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Another fun adventure...

The day started out like this... Stef had to be in Brunswick for some envirohugatree conference at 8am today, so I figured that it would be a good opourtunity for me to grab some caches down that way. So I drop stef off and head out on my way. By about noon I had 5 finds and was just heading out from "The Brunswick Commons" cache, I got in the Jeep and started down the road... which was soon followed by a crunch chunk grumble grind rumble sensation... I pulled over and popped the hood to find that my idler pulley was now laying idle, and pulled apart... being in unfamiliar territory I decided to make the most of the situation and rig up what was left of the pulley hub to apply enough tension to my belt so that I could limp it to an auto parts store. After making the repairs and giving it a lil startup test I started packing up my things to head off (the nearest auto parts store I knew of was in topsham) But lo and behold a kind stranger stopped by to lend a hand. He (His name's Joe) explained that he never went this way to the airbase (he's retired navy) and that he just felt he should take the back way. (dont'ya love the way things work out) Joe said he would lead me to the nearest autoparts store about 2 miles away (which was great because I was doubtful that I would make it 10) So Joe leads me to VIP and we're standing in line chatting and who decides to jump into the story... RobT!! He was at VIP getting an oil change. And just when you think the story couldn't get any more coinceidental, Rob knew Joe and Joe knew Rob! (small world) So they both assisted in putting things back together and while we were doin so Rob and I were filling Joe's head full of knowledge about geocaching, and he was so intrigued by geocaching that we took him to Rob's "Almond Joy" cache (which was missing in action but still a nice little adventure)

So the way I look at it is this... Joe needed geocaching to be brought into his life so my Jeep took one for the team and broke down so that Joe would stop to help take me to VIP where we run into Rob and give Joe a crash course in geocaching to get him hooked into caching!!!

Soooo, It's days like this that I'm thankful for kind strangers, caching friends, and well stocked auto parts stores.

Hiram, That was a strange day... Let me know next time you are coming down and we can acctually go find some caches I was not planning on going to VIP but after getting my tires changed at one of my normal haults I figured I had beter do the oil since they did not have they time.

Also you forgot to tell them that you had a DNF.... You were saying that you found the lamppost @ walmart were I did not put the GPS Cache.

Also you forgot to tell them that you had a DNF.... You were saying that you found the lamppost @ walmart were I did not put the GPS Cache.

Ohhh yeah, I forgot about that part. If anyone is looking for an easy wal-mart lampost cache, do Robs "Be your own GPS" cache!

Originally Posted by vicbiker

One would think that owning a jeep as long as you have, you'd have your very own parts store by now. LoL

Nah, there's too many! I only carry the basics, and the idler pulley wasn't one of them But as I was waiting for Stef at the college, there were a couple of those little hybrids sitting out front. And as I was starring at them I realized what's still nice about having an old heap... I can fix it myself!

Jeep owners

Anyone who was at the winter campout will probably remember Luke, he was the guy with the video camera. He is leaving this Sunday for California in his jeep. I haven't the heart to tell him, that his chances are slim, that they are less those given the pioneers traveling by wagon train. Hiram couldn't make it to Brunswick and back without a breakdown, what chance does Luke have of a cross country trip. One redeeming factor will be his bicycle, which he has with him. This can be used to go for help, to get parts, or possibly finish the trip. All jeep owners should be required to carry alternative means of transportation!!

All jeep owners should be required to carry alternative means of transportation!!

You're not kidding . . . the worse vehicle I ever owned was my 1993 Jeep Wrangler. I am honest when I say I was not overly rough on it . . . I did go on some back roads, but we're talking simple gravel roads, nothing overly difficult . . . and yet in the course of my ownership I ended up with two broken motor mounts, the windshield wiper motor died (whoever has had a wiper motor die . . . incidentally, I had to change that one out in middle of January outside which wasn't a lot of fun and in the process I put the motor in the wrong way so the wipers were pointed up when the wipers were "off" instead of down in the "off" position), the tires always wore down very quickly (probably due to the short wheelbase), there was a host of other issues which I've forgotten about and the kicker was my engine blowing up while driving along at 45 mph or so (EMF's "Unbelievable" was playing on my stereo and I'll never forget pulling over and looking back at the oil streak and various small metal parts in the road and thinking, "Yup, pretty unbelievable.")

To make matters worse, the engine was out of warranty (I bought it second-hand) even though there was only something like 30,000 miles or so on it, I ended up buying an extended warranty for a price that was only slightly less outrageous than the cost of paying for a new engine outright, it took over a month to get the Jeep repaired and in the process the shop ended up damaging one of my doors when they put it on the lift with the door open and it ended up scrunching it.

I ended up selling that Jeep to some teacher tech out in the Winslow-Fairfield area. I saw it kicking around for awhile . . . and for all I know it may still be out there. It had a KC lightbar on the top, was red (except for the silly string that was permanently fused on to the black hard top from my wedding day thanks to my wife's friends) and had wipers pointing up -- it truly was one of a kind.

Needless to say, my Jeep experience was less than stellar (although I must confess I did love having the top off the Jeep on those blistering hot summer days) . . . which is why my next vehicle (and present vehicle) is a much more reliable Toyota 4Runner that has had zero repair issues to date. I will never buy another Jeep product . . . and I've not overly excited about Chrysler products (although I do like the styling.)

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."